Here are some interesting going on lately.
- The City of Miami PAB is set to vote on a allowing a special district for the “World City” development on 25 acres in Park West, Downtown Miami. This is a great project that has been in the pipeline for a while now that includes 9 blocks of mixed-use retail, office, residential buildings in an area that desperately needs urban infrastructure. Three transit stops are included within the project, which surrounds the Network Access Point (NAP) Building (the one with large globes on the roof). The project developers have been working with the city for two years in anticipation of Miami21 and have made sure that the project is consistent with its regulations, though it has not yet been approved. Kudos to the Mayor, Planning Department staff, and the Falcone group for taking this big step for our city.
- Beach leaders met to discuss traffic congestion and parking (without really addressing the greater transit problem of connecting the beach with the mainland).
In other matters, the commission unanimously approved sending bids for car and bicycle programs that would let residents share vehicles for a fee — hopefully decreasing the need for Beach residents to hold on to their own cars.
- Transit fares held steady as Commissioner Gimenez’s re-vote did not pass. Thanks to the people who called or emailed their Commissioners. Now, we can start to get our system back on track.
Seven commissioners voted against the reconsideration: Barbara Jordan, Dennis Moss, Dorrin Rolle, Audrey Edmonson, Natacha Seijas, Sally Heyman and Katy Sorenson.Five commissioners voted to reconsider the fare increase: Gimenez, Javier Souto, Rebeca Sosa, Bruno Barreiro and José ”Pepe” Diaz.
The last bullet is sort of misleading. “Transit fares held steady”?? Actually they did not hold steady as they have been increased since they voted to not reconsider the fare increase.
It isn’t misleading because the vote to increase fares took place two weeks ago, regardless of any attempts to reconsider it. The fares held steady at their new increased rate (this is a good thing btw).
How is the fare increase a good thing? Monthly passes for Miami’s transit system are now the most expensive in the US (its now going to be twice as expensive as Boston’s for example). $100 for a monthly metrorail pass is just nuts. And the commission still did absolutely nothing about finding a real non-fare based revenue source for the transit system. Getting rid of the free rides (a reduced fare rather than free, plus getting rid of the free rides for transit employees) would have been a step in the right direction as well. Increasing fares wont save the transit department. No transit system can survive on its fares alone, it needs a real funding source and until the commission grows the collective spine necessary to find one all transit funding solutions that they come up with should be viewed as the failures they are.
Another thing on the $100 a month pass. There are 21 “work days” in the month of September (there are between 20 to 24 “weekdays” a month). At $2 a trip, thats $4 for a day’s travel. So taking transit to work every day would only cost $84, how can they justify charging $100 for a monthly pass? If they upped the per trip rate to $2, keeping the old monthly rate finally would have made sense (the old monthly rate was far too high considering the old per trip rate).
Dave, As a transit rider during the weekend and weekdays, I don’t think that this increase is very much. It always beats out using my car in terms of cost effectiveness. Many people also have to make tranfers, which makes the monthly pass more than cost effective for anyone using it for their weekday commute. (Even if you only have to make one transfer per day the total comes out to $126 a month.)
Yes, there are other measures that need to be taken, like eliminating the free monthly passes, to raise money. This increase is just a first step to shoring up the system, but it needed to happen. We are now charging consistent one way rates with other cities - New York is $2.00, Chicago is $2.00 plus transfers, SEPA is $2.00, MARTA is $1.75 plus transfers.
PS. Boston’s base fare for someone using the subway and paying in cash is….drumrolll….$2.00.
Yes, the monthly pass is expensive, depending on how much you use it, but it is still better than using the car. My hope is that this contributes to the financial health of the system, and can be tweaked as time goes on (like allowing free transfers, and factoring in distance based pricing).
I agree with Dave that it is an unfair rate considering what you get. While I would have no problem paying twice the cost in Chicago, Boston, or New York for their transit, which is diverse and connects you to where you’re going.
I also agree that more needs to be done here, including eliminating a lot of the freebies, and I believe a 1/2 cent tax in addition to the current tax that is solely for new transit lines and trains should be levied. I think $1.50 for metro-rail is fair, we should not pay more solely because MDT is poorly managed.
Once additional lines are developed I see no problem with charging a rate that is equal to the level of service. I just want good functioning transit.
I’d also like to see a post on the current manager of MDT and maybe even an interview about his/her plans for transit in Miami.
Yes Boston’s single use fare is $2 but Boston’s comparable unlimited bus and train pass costs…drumroll…$59.
E.T., Good suggestion re interviewing Director Karpoor and his plans for MDT. We are working on a series of interviews soon.
I understand the argument that the LOS is not comparable with other cities, but you still have to consider that the area served by our system is pretty big (thus as expensive to operate as other more compact systems). If we want it to grow and improve, we have to be willing to pay for it.
Dave, I agree that there are inconsistencies with transit fares, and perhaps the number for the monthly pass could be tweaked, but even you stated that the single fare rate increase made sense. I am thinking about the long term goals of MDT and how we can move forward with the Orange Line at a time when support for MDT is really low. This lifeline is a temporary fix while the greater financial house gets in order.
BTW, the real problem with our transit fares is not the base fare, but that transfers are not free within a certain period of time. $100/month for unlimited use of the system makes sense when you consider that anywhere you go you have to make a transfer.
Great Conversations so far guys, the whole point of these news tidbits and of this website as a whole is to stimulate educated discussion on some of the critical policy issues occurring in the area.
My 2 cents: I like the idea of the single rider fare hike, but would have preferred to see monthly passes remain the same and a significant hike attached to parking - the mentality here being, let’s tax those who can afford to drive to our stations while minimally impacting those who fully depend on MDT for all their transit needs.
While Miami does not have as vast a system as NYC, Chicago, or Boston, Tony brings up a good argument in its comparable size. I don’t have exact figures, but I would imagine that the area we’re trying to provide transit to, is a considerable factor in this cost equation.
I’ll be working on an article soon which discusses MDT’s role in accessing all parts of the county with an emphasis on the most recent proposed route cuts.